


she's absolutely smitten, she'll never let her go

by luthqrs



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: <3, F/F, Fluff, Game Night, Karaoke, What's new, ceo's of not communicating, endless plotless fluff, i really enjoyed writing this, imagine it as kelly if u like x, its. fun, k bye, kara and lena are both oblivious idiots, kelly would be there but maggie fits the character and timeline more, minor maggie and alex, please enjoy reading it, theres monopoly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29818083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luthqrs/pseuds/luthqrs
Summary: this is a storyof pointless fluff with very little semblance of a plot.  here is a randomly selected excerpt bc i can't write summaries."More than anything, Kara wished that she had the confidence once more to ask Lena to a game night. Every week, when Friday finally crawled along, she would toy with her phone, typing and retyping messages, hovering her finger over the call button, or clutching at excuses to show up at Lena’s office just to invite her over, only to back out at the last minute, having fussed so much about how Lena might respond that there was no longer time to ask. Contrary to what Kara’s panicking would have one believe, the two had grown close. Brunches and office catchups had become a staple of both of their calendars, but Kara was still (somewhat irrationally) afraid that Lena would decline an invite to meet her friends."here u go :)
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 12
Kudos: 122





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

> hi friends!
> 
> welcome to the product of many sleepless nights and the work that used all four of my brain cells for weeks on end. what we have learned from this messy, relatively plotless story is that i really need to learn how to form a basic plan before i get carried away writing pages and pages of purposeless fluff, but it's okay because i enjoyed writing the purposeless fluff. i hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> yes, i know there are a few canonical issues (eg. mon-el simply not existing) but please. pt them down to me not caring, being bad at researching, having an awful memory or a combination of the three. i am almost certain there are typos. sorry about that.
> 
> my favourite part is the text chains and nicknames, i hope it's clear who's who!! (they're not in the first chapter oopsie)
> 
> (title is absolutely smitten by dodie clark)
> 
> k enjoy

————

#  **_i: “well if you change your mind, the offer still stands.”_ **

————

_“Do you know how you could thank me? We have this game night thing my sister and I dominate and we are in desperate need of a worthy adversary.”_ The fascinating blonde’s words replayed in her mind. She cringed remembering the way she had responded, sharp and cold. In Lena Luthor’s defence, her entire life until this moment had been treated much like a business transaction. Relationships had purposes, they had conditions and contracts. Anything another person did or said to benefit her was in exchange for something in return. Lena wasn’t conditioned to unprompted kindness; an offer without a subtext. 

“Well if you change your mind, the offer still stands.” the sweet girl across her desk had replied, seemingly undaunted by Lena's rigidity. Now, sitting alone in her office at five pm on a Friday evening, Lena was regretting her rejection of prospective company. She imagined Kara sitting around a coffee table with her friends, enjoying each other’s company over a worn family board game and longed to be there.

Game night was quite the foreign concept, Lena thought. She didn’t play games, not this kind anyway. It wasn’t that she hadn’t ever been exposed to a board game, for the Luthors were all too invested in a chess match. She’d grown up familiar with the concept of Monopoly and frowned at the inaccuracy of Risk. So no, it wasn’t board games themselves, it was the idea of _enjoying_ a board game, the experience being something that brought families together and created memories that was foreign. It was the thought of friendly competition, playing for the sake of playing, without the consequences that she had come to associate with loss, that was alien to Lena Luthor.

And so, as a consequence of her yearning to understand ‘game night’, Lena found herself gazing longingly at Kara Danvers each time she had appeared in her office or quite literally bumped into her at a coffee shop, desperately hoping for an invitation to that week’s game night. She certainly didn’t _expect_ one after the first and only time that Kara had offered her a place, but she longed for one nonetheless. The truth was, the bumbling mess of a not-reporter had captured Lena Luthor’s attention. When Kara Danvers walked into the room, or perhaps more accurately, stumbled into the room, she was the only thing Lena could see. When Kara walked into the room, Lena understood why films blurred the background when the love interest walked into the room, for when she saw Kara, everything else disappeared, and Kara Danvers was all that remained clear. Her bright smile was dangerously contagious and her kindness shone through her sun-stained hair, illuminating even the darkest of days. Although she prided herself on always presenting as composed and calm, Lena was absolutely whipped by Kara's very presence and wanted to spend every spare second of her day basking in the sweet girl’s light.

————

  
  


_“Let me be clear, when I said I wanted us to have a positive relationship, I meant a business relationship.”_ Lena Luthor's eyes lost their sparkle in a matter of words. _“I would hate for you to offer me an invitation out of some misplaced sense of friendship.”_ Kara's heart felt the consequences of reliving the moment she had overstepped her boundaries with the raven-haired girl in her all too posh office. Kara had a history of being too friendly too fast. She had all but ensured a childhood of isolation by offering too much of herself too quickly. Her only high school boyfriend was frightened away when her eagerness to meet his parents resulted in her paying them an unwarranted visit during Spring break, unbeknownst to her boyfriend, accompanied only by a basket of blueberry muffins. She had lost her only prospective assistant position prior to being hired by Cat Grant when she had good-naturedly taken it upon herself to learn her future employer’s entire family history, how he took his coffee, all of his medical information and his favorite trivia questions before their first meeting. Coming on too strong was a personal strength of Kara’s, and try as she might to slow down, her enthusiasm to be as welcoming and kind as possible always prevailed.

Much to her own surprise, despite her disappointment at Lena’s refusal of her offer, Kara managed to produce a composed response, and left the gorgeous woman’s office with something resembling grace. Since that day, she had ensured that she came into contact with Lena Luthor at every possible opportunity, for though Lena might not want to be her friend, she wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. On a more selfish note, Kara just couldn’t help but seek Lena out just to watch her. She found the dark-haired girl absolutely fascinating. Her eyes, though predominantly green, were ever-changing, glowing in a slightly different shade each time Kara saw them. She adored the way Lena would catch her bottom lip between her teeth when she was thinking, and the way her eyebrow did _The Thing™_ , sending butterflies through Kara's stomach. Everything about Lena Luthor was alluring, and Kara found herself thinking about her far more often than she would care to admit.

More than anything, Kara wished that she had the confidence once more to ask Lena to a game night. Every week, when Friday finally crawled along, she would toy with her phone, typing and retyping messages, hovering her finger over the call button, or clutching at excuses to show up at Lena’s office just to invite her over, only to back out at the last minute, having fussed so much about how Lena might respond that there was no longer time to ask. Contrary to what Kara’s panicking would have one believe, the two had grown close. Brunches and office catchups had become a staple of both of their calendars, but Kara was still (somewhat irrationally) afraid that Lena would decline an invite to meet her friends. 

————

Kara and Lena sat nestled at a corner table in the warmth of Noonan's diner, watching rain pelt down on the windows and dribble to the ground beneath them. Thick glass panes diligently protected the patrons of the diner from the particularly aggressive storm assuming control over National City, the first in a long time. Lena smiled over at the girl sitting across from her, who had her hands wrapped in the sleeves of her oversized sweater, acting as a burgundy tea cosy, protecting her hands from being scalded by the mug of hot tea she was cradling. 

“It looks nasty out there, doesn’t it?” Lena said in a hushed tone, feeling that she shouldn’t disturb the blonde’s peace with any semblance of a firm voice. 

“Oh I don’t know, I think it’s kind of peaceful. Just picture it Lena, tomorrow there’ll be lots of little children wearing lots of little rain boots splashing in puddles and dragging their mothers along the wet pavements to find snails, begging to race leaves down little streams of leftover rainwater and-“ Kara’s eyes sparkled with delight imagining childhood bliss and innocent happiness, causing Lena to beam, unable to control a joyful giggle escaping her lips. Looking outside at the pouring rain escaping from the sky, not unlike a faucet someone had forgotten to switch off, Lena realised that it no longer looked aggressive or frightening. The rain looked like hope and euphoria, a sense of immature excitement and inner peace that she hadn’t felt in a long time. She glanced over at Kara, who was still beaming like a little kid.

“How precious.” she whispered to herself.

“What’s precious?” Kara asked, her eyes widening innocently.

“Oh-” Lena wrinkled her nose “nothing -- nothing important.” She couldn’t have provided an answer that was further from the truth. Kara, precious as she may be, would always be the most important person in the room as far as Lena was concerned. Fortunately for Lena, as far as saving face went, Kara seemed content with her answer, or at least had the grace to let the topic slip.

“Don’t you have _a gala_ to attend tonight?” Kara asked conversationally, enunciating the word ‘gala’ in a teasingly posh accent, as though it was too expensive for her American accent. Of course Kara remembered Lena's overpacked, complex schedule that even she struggled to keep up with. Although Kara's efforts might seem excessive to some, Lena found it charming.

“Yes. Well, I should be attending a _gala_ this evening” Lena grinned, imitating Kara’s tone. “-but given that it’s scheduled to take place in the National City Museum gardens, I gather that my attendance won’t be necessary in this rain.” she quipped, signing her words with a signature quirk of her eyebrow.

“So that leaves you with no plans for this evening then?” A leading question if there ever was one, Lena thought, but seeing Kara's eyes light up with what Lena could only assume was hope, she sighed, resigned to her fate.

“I suppose that would be the case.” She hoped her voice sounded less shaky than it felt.

“Well then Lena Luthor, I hope you’re ready to get your ass kicked by the Danvers sisters at game night!” Lena wondered in passing where Kara had gathered all that confidence from, but she was grateful for whatever it was that encouraged such a display. She mulled over Kara’s words and chuckled

“Kara Danvers did you just say ‘ass’?” Lena teased, earning an exaggerated eye roll from the party in question.

“ _That’s_ what you took away from that?” Kara groaned, the upturn in the corner of her mouth giving away her mock-offense. Lena scoffed.

“Anyway. My ass? Kicked?” Lena clicked her tongue. “Not a chance Danvers.” 

“So you’ll come?” Kara’s fake pout disappeared without a trace, replaced with a splitting grin.

“If you’ll have me, I’d love to experience this ‘game night’ you’re always raving about.” Lena winked, almost causing serious detriment to her blazer when Kara spat out a mouthful of tea. 

“Hot.” Kara said quickly, in lieu of a detailed explanation. Then, turning a muted shade of red, she began to stammer “the tea -- obviously, not, yeah -- tea -- too hot” Lena tilted her head curiously, a small smile playing at her lips. “to drink.” Kara finished quietly, looking down at the table in a clear attempt to avoid any and all eye contact. Lena chuckled and placed her hand atop Kara’s gently.

“What time should I be at your apartment?” she asked, her voice calm and relaxed as though the girl sitting opposite her had not recently finished awkwardly rambling about the temperature of her tea.


	2. ii

————

#  **_ii: “so little danvers, i hear you have girl troubles.”_ **

————

“And you’re  _ absolutely sure _ you’ve never played Mario Kart before?” Winn groaned exasperatedly, not drawing his eyes away from the television screen to ensure his car didn’t take a quick detour into the abyss, forcing that little cloud fellow (who Kara thought was totally sweet and got distracted by each time he appeared to rescue her character) to drop him back on the map. Lena grinned with genuine innocence. 

“Not even once.” Kara beamed from the kitchen counter, admiringly watching Lena annihilate Winn for the third time, despite truthfully having never held a controller prior sitting on the sofa that evening.

While Winn’s entire body shifted with his controller, his hands purposelessly tilting in his intended direction, Lena was comfortably resting against the sofa cushions, her arms perched gently on her lap. Her grip on the controller was delicate, though Kara could hear it creak ever so slightly as Lena tightened her grip when she slid around hairpin bends. She passively chewed on her lip, her focus entirely on the fascinating game Winn had introduced her to. Kara was absolutely transfixed by Lena’s interest in such a simple activity, but she more so enjoyed watching her get along with Kara’s friends, teasing Winn and messing around with her sister as though she’d known them forever. It made her feel warm to see Lena so comfortable in her home, in an environment that meant everything to Kara.

Winn fell off the map once more, unintentionally trading his third place ribbon for sixth, causing Lena to laugh with enough energy to knock herself off the map.

“Winn my friend, I think that’s your cue to stop playing and give someone else a try.” Kara grinned teasingly. Winn whipped his head around, flailing his arms into the air, most certainly losing any hope of winning in the process.

“We are not  _ playing _ Kara! You don’t  _ play _ Mario Kart! This isn’t basketball, Mario Kart is serious business.” Kara bit the inside of her cheek to stifle a giggle. “You play basketball. You  _ compete _ in Mario Kart.” he finished matter of factly. A satisfied grin smothered his face and his eyes shone. Kara mustered all the composure she had left to tighten her lips into a straight line instead of the amused grin she could feel rising. She didn’t respond, instead opting for a quick nod, for she knew if she were to open her mouth, only laughter would come out.

“Yes!” Lena exclaimed, throwing her arms up excitedly, winning yet another race. 

“Go Lena!” Kara called out joyfully, unashamed to admit she was proud of her friend. 

“Do you think I’m ready to have the auto-steering turned off yet?” Lena asked cheerily, scrunching up her nose, a little crinkle forming between her brows with prospective hope. “I feel as though I could manage without it.” she turned to Winn, snagging her bottom lip between her teeth absent-mindedly.

“I never turned your auto-steering on.” Winn grumbled under his breath through gritted teeth like a petulant child, sending Kara into fits of laughter. 

“What’s so funny? Do you all think I’ll be a complete failure without it?” Lena asked, thinly veiled hurt in her voice, clearly not having heard Winn's grumbling. Alex tapped Winn on the knee with her empty beer bottle as she rose from the couch to fetch another.

“Just admit it Winn, she’s a natural.” she turned to face Lena, who had folded her arms, her face set in a grumpy pout, and laughed. “You never had the auto-steering on, Lena. Winn was hoping to watch you lose at something.” Winn rose from the sofa haughtily and stormed to the fridge to grab another drink to drown his losses.

“Well,” Lena’s eyebrow did  _ The Thing™ _ , making Kara’s heart flutter in her chest. “I guess I’m just  _ that _ good.” she grinned at Kara and winked playfully. Oh Rao, she  _ winked _ . Kara gripped the bench tightly to prevent her from tumbling off her stool. A distinctive crack and a handful of crumbled countertop alerted Kara to the strength with which she’d clutched at it. She cleared her throat quietly, subtly brushing the wood chips to the floor, gazing distantly at Lena as she nudged the mess under the table with her foot.

“Kara?” Alex prompted. “Earth to Kara?” 

“Dude, she’s looking at Lena,” Winn nodded to the raven-haired girl nestled on the couch, absent-mindedly running her finger along the rim of her wine glass. “You may as well be on Krypton. Kara is blissfully unaware of anyone in the room whose name isn’t Lena.” Alex smirked at the thought of her little alien sister being in love with Lena Luthor; National City’s very own good-hearted billionaire, then crinkled her nose and grimaced as she imagined just a little too much detail. Shaking her head to banish the mental slideshow her overactive mind had just started, Alex drew her attention back to her little sister. She decided to take a more entertaining avenue to getting Kara’s attention, and nudged Winn, a mischievous smile gracing her lips.

“Twenty bucks says I can get Kara out of her little space world with one sentence.”

“As if.” Winn scoffed, taking a swig of his beer. Alex smirked. 

“Prepare to lose, Schott.”

“It’s because she’s a  _ Luthor _ .” Alex hissed in an exaggerated tone, directing a pointed wink at Winn, her voice raised to an almost comically loud volume to ensure the other two girls would hear.

“You want to say that again Alexandra?” Alex’s wrist throbbed under Kara’s tight grasp, which she had earned the second her words left her mouth. She looked up to see eyes of hot steel glaring into her own, and fought hard to suppress a snort of laughter. Winn, not quite so gifted in the art of composure, began laughing so hard that he fell to the floor, leaning on a dining chair for support and drawing in deep, strangled breaths.

“Told you it’d work. You owe me a twenty Schott.” Alex said smugly, smiling through gritted teeth, her arm still aching under her sister’s hot grip.

“Release the culprit darling.” Lena drawled, her eyes sparkling with amusement, almost as though she had been in on the joke in the first place. She walked over to the altercation and placed a hand on her best friend’s shoulder reassuringly, causing the other girl’s grip to falter, then fall entirely. 

“I get the feeling your  _ charming _ sister here intended more mischief than menace. Am I correct Danvers?” Alex nodded thankfully, nursing her freed wrist, a watercolour canvas of deep purples and blues becoming visible as the white imprint of Kara’s hand faded.

“Woah.” Lena gasped, her eyes widening at the sorry sight of Alex’s forearm. “That’s a strong grip you’ve got there Kara.” her eyebrow doing  _ The Thing™ _ again. (Oh how Kara wished she would stop doing  _ The Thing™ _ .) (Except she didn’t, not really.) “You’d best be careful with all that strength, people might start thinking you’re Supergirl or something.” She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Kara’s ear and winked. “Couldn’t have that, now could we darling?”

Kara’s face flushed red, fiery heat creeping across her cheeks and down her collarbones. Flustered, she messed with her glasses, darting her eyes around the room nervously, desperately trying to find anywhere to rest her gaze that didn’t involve meeting Lena’s glowing green eyes. As much as Alex was enjoying watching her little sister squirm under Lena’s cool demeanour, she felt she owed Kara a ‘get out of jail free’ card just this once, and took it upon herself to change the subject, dragging Lena to the kitchen to refill her drink. A thankful Kara scrambled to the bathroom to compose herself. Lena knew she was Supergirl, she had known since the very beginning, and had admitted as such on a windy morning a few weeks back.

————

_ Kara’s earpiece crackled in her ear. “Supergirl. Alien altercation on Main Street. We need you there, stat, it’ll take five minutes tops.” Alex’s voice rang through the wire, her tone apologetic as though she knew she would be interrupting something. (She was). Kara grimaced, turning to face Lena, who was wrapped in a thick coat, her nose and cheeks glowing red from the cold, her arms wrapped around her stomach in a futile attempt to preserve heat. They had been walking from her office to fetch a hot coffee and perhaps, if she could convince Lena that the sugar was worth it on such a chilly day, a hot sticky bun to accompany their drinks. She smiled at the sight of such a soft looking Lena, which quickly turned to a disappointed pout having remembered that she would have to rush off, leaving with some terrible excuse that she knew Lena would see right through anyways. She truly didn’t know why she tried. It was the principle of the matter, she decided, a charade that they played equal parts in acting out. _

_ “Uhh- Lena, I just remembered I, um, Alex! Alex said she needed me to pick up some, some stuff from the store, like, now, so can I meet you- in like ten minutes? At Noonan’s? Ten minutes?” ‘Wow, Kara. Spectacular. That was nothing short of pathetic.’ Kara thought, mentally slapping herself across the face. But Lena only smirked.  _

_ “And Alex needs this... stuff, right this instant?” She smirked.  _

_ “Uh-yes, its-” Kara trailed off, unable to finish her sentence with an even somewhat reasonable explanation, opting instead to look at Lena with pleading eyes, anxiously fiddling with her glasses. Lena placed a cold hand on Kara’s, which was still fiddling with her glasses, intertwining their fingers, before bringing the other hand up to Kara’s face, lifting the frames away from baby blues. She smiled softly, warmth flowing from her eyes despite the winter chill. _

_ “Go get ‘em, Supergirl.”  _

_ “You-” _

_ “Yes, I know.” Lena cut in with an amused smile. “We’ll talk about it later, after you’ve saved the planet from today’s devastating threat.” And just like that, she pocketed the glasses, nodding at Kara with something that Kara thought almost resembled pride in her eyes. _

_ They had  _ **_the_ ** _ conversation not five minutes later, when Kara returned to Noonan’s to find Lena sitting at their corner table, an array of sweet treats covering the wooden table and a thick chocolatey drink resting at the empty seat across from her. Kara sat down, and they talked. Lena didn’t deny that it hurt, being lied to, but she understood. Understood why Kara never told her, why protecting Lena took precedence over telling the truth. And Kara admitted that she too got hurt, that lying to Lena was akin to being pricked with tiny Kryptonite pins, each terrible excuse deepening the collection of wounds, but she understood that Lena felt betrayed, and that she had deserved better than what Kara gave her.  _

_ “No more lies.” they had decided, though that statement in itself felt like a lie to Kara. How could she be completely honest, when that would mean telling Lena exactly how she felt about her? ’So  _ almost  _ no more lies,’ Kara corrected in her head. She could keep this one secret to herself. Self-preservation, though it may be, there wasn’t a universe in which Kara would tell Lena this truth, not one universe in which Lena could possibly feel the same way. _

————

And so it wasn’t the Supergirl comment that had got Kara so flustered. Well, it was, but it wasn’t the secret identity part of Lena’s words, it was the way she said them. It was the wink. It was the sly smile Lena let slip, her eyes twinkling as though she knew exactly what game she was playing, as though she knew exactly how her words were making Kara’s heart skip and her knees feel weak. It was Lena Luthor herself that had Kara all flustered, that always had Kara all flustered.

A tentative knock sounded at the bathroom door, and Kara jumped to her feet, wondering how long she’d been sitting red-faced on the cold, tiled floor, her back resting uncomfortably against the bathtub. 

“Little Danvers? Hey, open up in there.” A voice that unmistakably belonged to Maggie Sawyer called from the other side of the door. “It’s Maggie.” she added unnecessarily. Kara sighed and leaned toward the door, twisting the lock and tapping the wood twice, which Maggie took as consent to let herself in. Kara smiled up at the short girl slipping into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, twisting the lock to ensure them some peace and quiet for the time being.

Kara loved Maggie in every sense of the word, except of course the way in which her sister loved her. She knew that Maggie meant everything to her big sister, and she could not possibly have been more grateful for her timely entrance into the both of their lives. She had become something of a second big sister to Kara, somehow making difficult conversations with Alex less difficult, a steady presence who could always be there were Alex to fall through, which admittedly, she rarely did. Maggie sat down cross-legged in front of Kara, brushing the hair out of her face and smiling encouragingly. “So Little Danvers, I hear you have girl troubles.” she teased, her voice full of compassion.

“Alex.” Kara grumbled accusingly.

“Yeah. Truly can’t keep a secret that one. If it's any consolation, I’m ninety percent sure that it's only me that she blabs to and frankly if she’s telling secrets to any other girls we might have a bigger problem on our hands here.” Kara laughed; diffusing a situation with humour was so very Maggie, and it was exactly what she had needed. “So? Come on Kara, spill.”

“She’s- she’s just so,” Kara paused, a far away gaze befalling her face, wonder and adoration in her eyes. “She’s just so perfectly Lena. She’s kind, and sweet, and so very funny, and she doesn’t even have anyone who cares about her because her family is just- oh they’re the worst Maggie, and she just doesn’t know how much she deserves to be loved and appreciated because wow she’s absolutely incredible and I mean have you even seen her? I truly think she might be an angel because if she’s human then there is absolutely no hope for the rest of us she’s just- she’s gorgeous; her eyes are like, they glow like stars, and I would know Mags- I would know, I’ve literally seen the stars and her eyes are brighter than any of them, but they just look sad all the time and I want her to not be sad and I want to be the person who makes her not sad, because she deserves to be happy and carefree and not have the burdens of her family forced on her every waking second-” Maggie began to chuckle, and although quiet, Kara was broken from her  little rather impressive ramble. She elbowed Maggie in the stomach, which did little to stop her from laughing, if anything at all.

“Oh Kara. You’ve got it bad, huh?” Maggie sighed when she’d regained her composure. Kara’s face flushed and she looked down into her lap, wringing her hands. 

“How am I supposed to be normal around her when she’s being all unintentionally flirty? Like does she even realise that she’s being like-  _ that _ ? Nobody is that hot  _ accidentally _ Maggie, nobody. Except Lena, apparently.”

“I can’t answer the question about composure I’m afraid. I mean if Lena spoke to me like that I too would be in a puddle on the bathroom floor-”

“Maggie!”

“What? I am very much so in love with your crazy cute big sister, but as a self-respecting gay, even I can admit that Little Luthor is like, smoking hot.”

Kara groaned and put her head in her hands, her face still as hot and red as the minute she locked herself in the bathroom. 

“Not helping Maggie.”

“Sorry kid. And anyways, about the flirting thing, I don’t in the slightest think that it's unintentional. Now come on, there’s a game night waiting for us back out in the real world, and I’m like eighty percent sure that Alex was ordering pizza when I arrived.” Kara gaped; Maggie had glazed over the ‘intentional vs unintentional flirting’ thing like they were discussing a takeout order (which perhaps was a bad comparison, for Kara took food ordering very seriously), so where she would normally be getting excited over pizza, Kara was instead fixating on the words “I don’t in the slightest think that it's unintentional.”, allowing them to roll around in her head.

She was quite literally pulled from her trance as Maggie grabbed her hand and dragged her off the floor, scraping her hair clean from her face and straightening out her sweater to make her look less flustered. 

“Out into the real world we go Little Danvers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that little flashback made sense!
> 
> tell me all ur thoughts!!!! >:)


	3. iii

————

#  **_iii: “damn, lena luthor is fucking smooth”_ **

————

When Kara and Maggie slipped back into the living room, game night was practically in full swing. James and Lucy had arrived and were hovering at the bar table, picking at various chips and dips, laughing at some story that Winn was animatedly telling them, hand gestures, strange voices and all. Kara let her eyes wander, and was pleased to find Lena sitting comfortably on an armchair, chatting with Alex, a quiet smile on her lips, both of them cradling glasses of red wine. 

Lena looked nothing short of drop-dead gorgeous, her raven hair falling down past her shoulders, spilling onto a soft cream coloured sweatshirt, that Kara wished nothing more than to snuggle her face into. She looked younger here, Kara thought, than she did in the office, dressed in tight pencil skirts and three-piece suits. She looked peaceful and carefree, relaxed like any twenty-something year old should be on a Friday evening; any twenty-something year old if they had a face sculpted by Aphrodite herself, that is.

Kara took a deep breath, and turned to thank Maggie, who she quickly discovered had already slunk away to the fridge to fetch a beer and was making her way to the seat next to Alex. Kara watched as she plopped down next to her girlfriend, throwing her arm around her and pressing a kiss onto her cheek, and though Alex didn’t stop speaking, or even break eye contact with Lena, her cheeks tinged a pretty shade of pink as she absent-mindedly intertwined her fingers with Maggie’s on her lap. 

Kara beamed, genuine happiness for her sister flowing through her. Alex had found  _ her person _ , someone who loved her unconditionally, someone who loved her for her, and took care of her, because even tough DEO agent big sisters needed someone to look after them sometimes, Kara thought, and Maggie did exactly that. Sighing happily one last time, Kara moved to fetch herself a drink and join the three of them, but not before she snapped a quick picture of the happy couple, who would no doubt both blush when she showed it to them later, despite both holding a reputation for being hardasses. 

“Kara! I was beginning to think you’d found a better party and left us in the dust.” Lena teased, her voice full of mirth despite narrowing her eyes and faking a hurt expression. Kara dropped down onto the floor beside Lena’s chair, dumping an armful of chocolate bars and her lemonade onto the table (she enjoyed soft drinks more than most alcoholic drinks, and considering she couldn't get drunk, there wasn’t much difference between the two in her eyes anyways). 

“What, and miss game night? I would never.” Kara said, placing her hand on her heart in mock sincerity, though it was clear that despite her sarcasm, she meant every word. Lena chucked and placed a hand on Kara’s shoulder. 

“I know you wouldn’t darling.” Kara was grateful that Lena couldn’t see her face, for she was certain that once again, she was glowing red.

“Yeah, as if Kara would pass up an opportunity to gaze longingly at --mmph.” Alex only managed to get halfway through what Kara knew was about to be an embarrassing taunt before Maggie slapped her hand over her girlfriend’s mouth. Kara shot her a grateful smile as Alex whined under her breath; something about “nobody letting me have any fun around here”. Lena’s eyes darted between the three girls, attempting to interpret their silent conversation, but ultimately resigned to a confused look and returned her attention to her wine glass.

————

An hour saw Lucy and the boys join them at the coffee table, hauling with them a sizable load of board games, ranging in complexity and family friendly rating, and set them down on the floor next to the tale with a thud. Lucy grinned and swiped her hands against her jeans, attempting to clear off the dust that she had picked up from the less used boxes at the bottom of the stack. 

“Tradition states that the newest member of the game night crew (patent pending) is given the grand honour of deciding the first game of the night. Would you like to do the honours, Miss Luthor?” She announced grandly, in her best game show host voice. Kara felt Lena shuffle a little in her seat, and panicked for a second that she might be uncomfortable with the attention, briefly considering stepping in to redirect the question. 

All worries considered, she was pleasantly surprised by Lena’s response.

“I should only be so lucky Miss Lane.” Lena teased, also adopting a grand tone, as though taking her role as new recruit very seriously. She laid down her wine glass and sorted through the games. “I regret to inform you all that I will be beating your sorry asses at Monopoly first up tonight.” Though she had never actually played Monopoly, it was the only box Lena recognised that she was aware of the rules of, her senior year roommate in boarding school having owned a worn vintage edition. 

“Woah, someone talks a big game!” Winn grinned, puffing out his chest jokingly. “I’ll have you know that I’m the undefeated Monopoly champion at this here game night and I won’t be relinquishing my title anytime soon, Luthor.” 

“Oh, quit polishing your tiara Winn, we’ve played Monopoly a sum total of like three times.” Maggie quipped, tossing a handful of popcorn across the room at his face.

“And did I not win all of them?” Winn boasted, shoving some of the popcorn shrapnel in his mouth. Met with silence, he grinned. “That’s what I thought.”

“Ew, Winn, eat with your mouth closed!” Kara groaned, beginning to laugh at her friends’ antics. She was grateful that Lena was fitting into the group, joining in with their usual banter as though she had always been a regular at game nights.

“ _ Winslow _ you seem to be forgetting that I run a multi-billion dollar company as my day job.”

“Day job?” Lucy cut in. “Care to enlighten us about your  _ night  _ job Lena?” She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. 

“Wouldn’t you like to know Lane.” Lena drawled, tongue in cheek, her eyebrow doing  _ The Thing™ _ . Kara choked on a mouthful of crisps, leaving her spluttering and drawing in strangled breaths.

“For Kara’s sake can we  _ please  _ get on with the game?” Alex faked exasperation, but there was warmth in her voice. James had been quietly setting up while the group had their little discourse, and nodded to the pile of characters. 

Lena looked down at the board and began to laugh so hard that she almost spilled red wine down her sweater.

“Oh my god.” She managed to say, drawing in long breaths. “Superman themed Monopoly? You’re kidding.” Kara huffed and folded her arms.

“Well  _ apparently _ there isn't a Supergirl edition and Alex thought it would be funny for me to have to stare at Kal’s stupid face every time we play.” She snarled, glaring at Alex, who had also begun to snicker in the corner.

“Well personally I think that,” Lena paused, glancing at the label. “Hasbro Games is missing out on a prime business opportunity there. I would much rather stare at Supergirl’s pretty face for the duration of the game than her considerably less attractive cousin’s.” She remarked coolly, smiling coyly. Kara’s eyes went as wide as spacers, her mouth opening and closing like a guppy, unable to form a single syllable.

“Damn, Lena Luthor is fucking  _ smooth. _ ” Lucy called, raising her hand for a high five, which Lena accepted gracefully, running her tongue along her teeth as though she were immensely proud of herself.

“Yeah well if she’s not more careful with what she’s saying she’ll be fucking-” Alex began, grinning connivingly.

“Thaaat’s enough of that!” Winn cut in quickly, attempting to save face on Kara’s behalf, an act which she was beyond grateful for. Alex grumbled, and the rest of the room save for Kara erupted into laughter once more.

“I’m sorry darling, it was too good of an opportunity for a girl to pass up.” Lena said in a hushed voice, looking at Kara with eyes that asked a silent question. ‘ _ Are you okay? _ ’ Kara, still furiously red, managed a nod and a small smile, which Lena took as answer enough.

“Shall we play?”

James nodded. 

“Choose your fighter.” he said dramatically, immediately causing a squabble over who got which piece. Kara snatched up the House of El crest, Lena laughed upon noticing a logo of Luthor Corp from before its rebranding, supposedly representing her brother’s feud with the man of steel, and quickly claimed it. Lucy grabbed a little figurine of Lois Lane, while Winn slapped James’ hand away from the piece shaped like Clark. Alex, as per usual, chose the piece that Kara hated the most, the kryptonite shard, chuckling at her little sister’s look of disdain as she slid it towards go. Maggie sighed loudly.

“Ugh, why do I get left with the boot? Why is there even a boot in here? Is there seriously nothing else interesting about your cousin that they could have made into tiny metal Monopoly form?” Maggie whined, inspecting the little boot dubiously. Kara smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Well they’re hardly gonna use a little figure of Clark’s glasses are they Maggie?” James quipped.

“See, I’m telling you, a Supergirl edition would be so much less boring, I’m  _ totally _ the more interesting cousin.”

“Or the more gay cousin.” Winn interjected, raising his eyebrows. Lena let out a tiny strangled sort of cough before seemingly focussing all her attention on swirling her wine around in her glass. “Interesting, gay, however you wanna word it.” Winn continued. Finding himself on the receiving end of Kara’s steely glare, he quickly amended his statement with a fond roll of his eyes. “My bad. Bi. Bi cousin.” Laughter flooded the room once more. Reigning the topic back in, Lucy looked at Kara and winked.

“Can’t disagree with you on the more interesting cousin thing Supes. Clarkie really does need to get some hobbies.” 

The first two games were wrapped up in just over twenty-five minutes each, for that was all the time it took for Lena to bankrupt the entire table, a satisfied smirk resting on her face the entire time. Kara, being naturally awful at Monopoly, should have been bankrupted within five minutes each round, but managed to stay in the game funded by generous donations from Lena’s endless wealth. Lena thought she was being discreet about slipping Kara cash while she wasn’t watching. This was fooling Kara, who just thought she was awful at counting her money, but not the rest of the group, who found it entirely too funny. 

Alex decided to try something, to test her already pretty cemented hypothesis that Lena had a crush on her baby sister.

“Hey Lena?” Lena looked up from scanning her property cards and across at Alex. “I’m running kinda low on cash here, what are the chances you’d lend me a couple hundred to tide me over until I pass go?” Lena raised both eyebrows and chuckled lowly.

“In your dreams Alexandra. I’m afraid your terrible business instincts are no fault of mine, hence I won’t be compensating them.”

“But you’ve been loaning Kara money all night.” Alex said pointedly, a sly grin slipping onto her face.

“No she hasn’t?” Kara protested honestly. Lena’s eyes widened, and she looked around the room to see it full of knowing looks. She directed a shy smile into her lap, her face flushing ever so slightly, the tip of her nose going pink. Sighing, she picked up her thick wad of hundred dollar bills, silently passing a few across the table to Alex, who began to laugh raucously.

“Knew it!” She called victoriously.

“Knew what?” Kara asked, confusedly counting her money, seemingly finally noticing that she was more well off than she ought to be. Lena shot Alex a look which simultaneously said “ _ I’m begging you, please don’t tell her. _ ” and “ _ I will make your life hell then cause you to experience a slow and painful death if you let so much as one word slip from your goddamn mouth _ .” Feeling sympathetic, and although she’d never admit to it, a little frightened, Alex kept her proven hypothesis to herself.

James, who had been laughing since the beginning of this ordeal, finally composed himself enough to say something.

“Hadn’t you realised that you were mysteriously wealthier than you should have been given your awful budgeting skills Kar?” he chuckled.

“Lena?” Kara questioned, looking up at her best friend fondly. Finally having found her feet again, Lena managed a calm answer; one that did not match her inner panic in the slightest.

“I may have slipped you a couple hundred here and there when you were struggling.” Winn coughed exaggeratedly from across the room. “Okay maybe a couple thousand but that's not the point. You really are terrible at Monopoly Kara.” She chuckled and smiled kindly at Kara’s growing pout.

“Hey! I can manage just fine on my own without you Miss Rich Business Bitch!” A collective gasp sounded around the table, an amused “You tell her Kar!” ringing out from Lucy’s corner. Lena laughed softly, reaching down to squeeze Kara’s hand.

“Good luck without your trust fund Kara.” She smiled a saccharine smile and began clearing away her winnings to prepare for the next game.

Five minutes into the third game, Kara was officially bankrupt, and had instead opted to rest her head on Lena’s knee, falling asleep for the remainder of that round, which needless to say, Lena won, despite only playing with one hand, while the other was busy combing through Kara’s blonde locks. 

“Not doing so crash hot without her sugar mommy is she?” Lucy quipped, nodding to the sleeping girl.

“I don’t know, she seems pretty content to me.” Alex whispered to Maggie, quiet enough that Lena wouldn’t hear.

Kara awoke sometime during the fourth game, which lasted a little longer than the others. Winn managed to hold out for an extra twenty minutes in the third game by hiding in jail while Lena circled the board, somehow managing to avoid each and every one of his properties, eventually coercing him out of his iron-wrought safety with the promise of mercy. She was not ashamed to admit that she didn’t keep her promise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what do u thinnk?? <3


	4. iv

————

#  **_iv: “shall we put her out of her misery?”_ **

————

Two hours of Monopoly and scandal saw the group dissolve into conversation as opposed to any further game playing, as the majority of the group was growing a little bored of losing. Sitting around the table with her little family felt like a gift from Rao in Kara’s eyes. She glanced around the room at her company. 

Winn and Lucy were involved in a heated discussion, which Kara made no effort to zone in on enough to catch the gist of what it was about. Lucy’s eyes were steely and steadfast, almost glowing with determination to win their little debate, and Kara was certain that if she were the one with heat vision, Winn’s shirt would have more than a few holes burned into it. 

Winn was flailing his arms around madly trying to prove his point, and Kara turned just in time to catch him accidentally smacking James in the face. He was making a genuine attempt to beat Lucy at her own game, but Kara could tell by the impish smile on his lips that he was more so playing the Devil’s advocate than actually voicing his own opinions. 

James was observing the two of them arguing absent-mindedly, though his attention was more focussed on the television which was streaming a muted newsfeed of some fight Kal-El was having over in Metropolis. It was obvious by the conviction in his eyes that he was worried for Clark’s wellbeing, despite his knowledge that Superman would be completely fine, and that he needn’t worry about his best friend.

Maggie and Alex were talking quietly on the sofa, their fingers intertwined and heads leaning against each other, wrapped up under a cosy blanket. Wishing to allow the besotted couple their moment of privacy, Kara didn’t allow her gaze to rest on them for any longer, leaving her observation for another time.

Lena, having just returned from the kitchen where she was pouring herself another glass of wine, was comfortably snuggled under Kara’s favorite blanket, a creamy white throw with a small red House of El crest hand-sewn into the corner. Lena’s nimble fingers were tracing the symbol carefully, but her eyes weren't focussed on the blanket. Kara looked up to find Lena’s eyes trained on her. When their eyes met, Lena pinked just a little, a detail that Kara was too wrapped in her own thoughts to notice, but made no effort to look away, smiling softly instead.

“Hi.” She said in a small voice. Kara smiled back up at her.

“Hey.” Neither of them attempted further conversation, sitting contently by one another. Kara returned her gaze to the television, which was now triumphantly advertising Superman’s victory, but Lena’s eyes remained focussed on the back of Kara’s head, her eyes full of adoration and contentment.

————

“When do you think Kara will notice the heart eyes Luthor is throwing her way?” Maggie whispered to Alex.

“She won’t.” Alex hushed back, rolling her eyes fondly in her sister’s general direction.

“You would think the painfully obvious flirting would be enough wouldn’t you?” Maggie wasn't one to blab, even to her girlfriend, so she kept her bathroom floor conversation with Kara to herself, but chuckled fondly remembering how the little dork put Lena’s flirting down to charisma, thinking it unintentional.

“We are talking about Kara here.”

“True. Lena could kiss her square on the lips and Little Danvers would have no qualms in believing that she was just being  _ unintentionally charmin _ g.” The pair giggled and looked over at Lena, who was still gazing longingly at Kara’s head. 

“Shall we put her out of her misery?” Maggie elbowed her girlfriend.

“Please.” Alex chuckled.

“So, Lena, how does it feel to officially be a Superfriend?” Maggie teased.

“I thought we weren’t using that term anymore!” Lucy whined. “It sounds so dorky.” Winn gasped in mock offense. 

“How dare you? That name is unique Winslow Schott Jr material, patent pending!”

“Still dorky.” Lucy shrugged.

“I must admit I stand with Lucy on the name-front.” Lena said, biting her bottom lip. “It sort of sounds like a children’s play group.” Winn pouted, but Lena paid him no mind. “However, if you guys are the children at said play group, I’m willing to take on the lame label and hang around for a little longer. Even if it does tarnish my ‘Rich Business Bitch’ reputation.” She smirked, locking eyes with Kara, who mumbled something about regret and hid her face in a cushion.

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re a half-bad bunch.” James chipped in. “I mean look at us, we’ve got a sweet but incredibly disaster-prone superhero,”

“Excuse you!”

“A very short, very gay detective, a slightly less short but equally gay DEO agent.”

“Hey! Wait- no that's fair.” Alex conceded.

“A badass CEO with a- what did you say that night job was again Lena?” Lena responded by sticking her finger up at him and narrowing her gaze.

“Not one, but  _ two _ guys who have tried and failed to win Kara’s love.” 

“Too soon James, far too soon.” Winn winced, while the rest of the room stifled giggles.

“And one feisty sarcastic asshole.”

“That’s not even a half-bad description like I will not fight you on that but can we squeeze ‘hot’ in there somewhere too?” Lucy asked, winking dramatically. 

The group collapsed into laughter, lazing around for a little longer, before eventually giving various reasons for why they had to leave, and exiting Kara’s apartment with promises to make plans during the week.

————

**the better lane** started a new group chat 

**the better lane** renamed the group chat:  _ “kara’s love life support crew  _ 💖 _ ” _

**the better lane** : so what’s going on between kara and luthor huh

**#winning:** heart eyes

**alexausted:** FACTS

**alexausted:** sorry kar it’s just the truth

**clark bar:** kara and lena luthor?

**smitten kitten:** okay what

**smitten kitten:** is going on

**357 magnum:** you’re in love with lena luthor is what's going on

**smitten kitten:** AM NOT

**smitten kitten:** aLSO ‘SMITTEN KITTEN’? SERIOUSLY LUCE THIS IS NOT FUNNY

**jimmy neutron:** it really is

**alexhausted:** its fucking hilarious kara

**not a damsel in distress:** oh kara honey

**smitten kitten:** help me lois

**not a damsel in distress:** kara you’re in with the wolves there's nothing i can do

**the better lane:** so i’ve called you all here today

**the better lane:** to discuss kara’s complete and utter obliviousness

**the better lane:** to the fact that one lena luthor

**the better lane:** is in love with her

**#winning:** hear, hear!

**alexhausted:** kara, this is an intervention

**smitten kitten:** SHE IS NOT IN LOVE WITH ME

**smitten kitten:** ARE YOU GUYS EVEN FAMILIAR WITH THE CONCEPT OF FRIENDS

**jimmy neutron:** yes, WE are

**#winning:** you and lena on the other hand, may need a refresher course

**clark bar:** what is going on? what did i miss?

**357 magnum:** kara is in love with lena luthor and she hasn’t realised yet that lena loves her back

**357 magnum:** even though it's really painfully obvious

**smitten kitten:** MAGGIE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BATHROOM PACT

**alexhausted:** like

**alexhausted:** calling supergirl hot to kara’s face levels of obvious

**#winning:** right in front of our salads

**clark bar:** what does salad have to do with it

**not a damsel in distress:** i’ll explain later clark just go with it for now

**not a damsel in distress:** and kara sweetie i think you have some thinking to do

**smitten kitten:** you guys she’s not in love with me

**smitten kitten:** for starters,,, she’s straight

**jimmy neutron:** who’s gonna tell her

**the better lane:** jesus christ kara

**357 magnum:** ohmygod little danvers

**alexhausted:** fucking hell kara

**clark bar:** kara she’s so gay

**clark bar:** i’ve only met the girl twice

**clark bar:** but she’s gay

**smitten kitten:** lena is not in love with me

**the better lane:** kara when you went to the kitchen to grab another drink she pouted like a kicked puppy until you sat back down next to her seat

**357 magnum:** she was staring longingly at the back of your head for an hour while you watched clark on television

**clark bar:** oh i have a fan?

**clark bar:** not the time nor the place sorry

**#winning:** she calls you darling

**smitten kitten:** she calls everyone pet names

**jimmy neutron:** i have not once been called darling

**alexhausted:** she choked when winn said you were gay

**smitten kitten:** THIS IS BI ERASURE

**alexhausted:** don’t change the topic

**smitten kitten:** >:(

**#winning:** sHIT KARA SHE LOVES YOU 

**#winning:** GET IT THROUGH YOUR LEAD LINED SKULL

**smitten kitten:** just so we’re perfectly clear

**smitten kitten:** lena luthor is not in love with me

**smitten kitten:** and I HATE ALL OF YOU YOU ALL SUCK

**smitten kitten:** except you lois you're excused because i need someone on my side and you’re the least mean

**357 magnum:** little danvers just do yourself a favour and ask lena how she feels.

**not a damsel in distress:** go get the girl kara.

**the better lane:** intervention dismissed

**the better lane:** terrific performance everybody

**the better lane:** good luck kara <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always i'd love to hear ur thoughts!


	5. v

————

#  **_v: “she must be some sort of special to have you all smiley.”_ **

————

Kara slung her bag over her shoulder, racing into the CatCo building as fast as she could possibly manage without arousing suspicion, as well as desperately trying to keep the three lattes she had balanced atop of one another from spilling onto the freshly cleaned tiled floor of the lobby. 

“Hold the door! Please!” Kara squeaked desperately from behind her terribly engineered coffee tower, still hurrying towards the elevator. A small, mousy haired woman standing within slid her foot out toward the lobby, triggering the elevator’s door function and allowing Kara enough time to slip in before it began its ascent through the media conglomerate. She took a deep breath, desperately willing the elevator to move faster, before turning to the girl who had let her in and smiling gratefully. “Thank you. My boss is going to absolutely obliterate me for being late again. Even by,” She pulled back a baby blue sleeve to check her watch. “eleven seconds.” The mousy haired woman smiled back, nodding in acknowledgement as the elevator arrived on Cat’s floor and Kara dashed out, practically tossing Winn’s coffee on his desk in her bid to get to Ms Grant’s office before her boss noticed the time.

“Kara,” Cat tutted sarcastically. “Timely as always.” No such luck with the whole ‘not noticing’ thing then. 

“I’m only twenty three seconds late Ms Grant, I’m practically on time I mean-” Cat rolled her eyes. 

“Do I pay you to be  _ practically _ on time, Kara?” Cat didn’t wait for a response. “No I do not. I pay you to be  _ on _ time, god forbid you might be  _ early _ once in a while.” Kara at least had the dignity to dip her head. 

“Coffee.” Cat demanded sharply, thrusting and open hand in Kara’s general direction. She took the offered takeaway cup and sipped gingerly at it. “Cold. Fetch another. Less creamer this time. Chop chop.”

“Yes Ms Grant.” Kara left the office hurriedly, sighing heavily once she was out of earshot. Five minutes into her day, and it had already been a long morning.

Two coffees runs and one blueberry muffin dilemma later, Kara finally got to sit down at her desk for a few moments of peace. Upon opening her laptop, a little notification pinged in the top corner.

_ Message from: _ **leeeeeennaaaa** **💗**

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** thank you for finally forcing me into coming to game night

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** your friends are sweet

**miss steel your girl:** i wouldn’t call it forcing,,, more like gentle coercion

**miss steel your girl:** and yeah they’re pretty cool

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** gentle coercion my ass

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** has cat got you performing too many circus stunts to stop for brunch? 

**miss steel your girl:** when has she not got me performing too many circus stunts?

**miss steel your girl:** but that's still a yes to brunch

**miss steel your girl:** i always have time for brunch

“I always have time for  _ you _ .” Kara thinks. She types it into the message bar, reading and rereading her words until they sound foreign. They felt so much more real written down than they did floating about the abyss of her mind. Too real, she thought, her eyes moving toward the little blue 'send' arrow. How could a tiny emote hold so many connotations, be so very daunting? Kara frowned and deleted the message, opting to wait for Lena’s reply instead.

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** :)

**leeeeeennaaaa** **💗** **:** my office? i’ll order something in?

**miss steel your girl:** sounds like a solid plan to me

  
  


“Ooooh, making lunch dates are we Miss Danvers?” Winn cooed from behind her, making Kara jump. 

“Winn! No, it's not a date. We’re just grabbing brunch together.” She sighed, resigned to the fact that she was fighting a losing battle.

“Sounds an awful lot like a date to me.” Winn laughed, nudging Kara’s chair with his elbow. Noticing Kara’s pout, he put his coffee down and smiled fondly. “Hey, I’m just teasing. I want this to be a date just as much as you do, okay? Now go get your girl.”

“Not my girl.” Kara mumbled. But she stood up anyway, picking up her phone and smiling gratefully at Winn. 

Maybe she did want this to be a date, and maybe she did desperately want to know if Lena could possibly want the same thing, but the range of possible answers to that question was precisely the reason that she would rather not ask.

Kara knew that her feelings for her best friend ran deep, and though their exact depth was an unknown entity, she knew they were too far gone to retrieve, too tightly sewn into her heart. Kara felt that if she peeled back her skin, she would find Lena Luthor’s name engraved underneath, written into her bones. Not in the soulmate sort of way, but in the ‘ _ You’ve made such an impact on my life that it feels like you’ve been here since the beginning, and perhaps in some ways you have. _ ’ sort of way. Perhaps that example was a little too specific for anybody else to relate to, but it was how Kara felt, and she couldn’t help but hope, in some distant universe, Lena felt the same way too.

————

“Kara!” Warm arms wrapped around Kara’s body and a soft cheek pressed against her own. “I missed you!” Lena’s breath was hot against her neck, and it made Kara shiver a little. She pressed her head into Lena’s hair before leaning back to face her. She looked at her best friend, gazing happily at the swirling green in her eyes, full of conviction and mirth.

“I saw you like, twelve hours ago Lena.” She laughed, as Lena faked a hurt expression, wearing her best Kara Danvers-esque pout. Kara rolled her eyes fondly, broken by a wide smile. “I missed you too.” She conceded with a laugh. Lena turned to walk toward the couch, indicating for Kara to follow.

“Oh thank Goodness. I was beginning to think that my feelings might be unrequited, darling.” Lena teased, throwing a smirk over her shoulder. Kara stammered, feeling her face burning up and her knees making every effort to give out from beneath her as she tried to regain some semblance of composure. She noticed concern flicker through Lena’s eyes, if only for a brief moment, before she slipped back behind her playful, ever- _ unintentionally _ -flirty mask. She dropped onto the sofa, slipping off her red-soled heels before tucking one leg under the other and smiling confidently at Kara, who was still standing a flustered mess in the middle of the room. Lena tapped the space next to her, snapping Kara out of her daze and drawing her to the sofa.

It was half an hour into playful banter, munching on donuts and sipping sweet coffee that the topic Kara dreaded most folded its way neatly into the previously very pleasant conversation. 

“So.” Lena drawled, a mischievous glint sparkling in her eyes. “Any romantic endeavours I should be aware of Miss Danvers?” Kara almost choked on a mouthful of cinnamon pastry, miraculously managing to swallow it with only a small cough presenting as evidence of her inner panic. “As your best friend I’m obliged to ensure that any prospective interests are up to my high standards.” She teased, throwing a soft smile as though wishing to make Kara feel a little more comfortable. “Also, L-Corp is seriously lacking in office gossip and I feel drama-starved.” Kara pinked, gazing down into her lap, watching her thumbs twist around each other anxiously, cringing at herself as a nervous giggle escaped her lips. 

“No- there's, nope. Nobody. Uh-uh.” Lena raised an eyebrow skeptically. “No romantic endeavours.”

“Kara, darling that was entirely too unconvincing.” Lena laughed with a soft smile, placing her hand on Kara’s knee. “You really are a terrible liar. No more lies, remember?”

“Honest Lena! There really is- nobody, I swear on Rao.” That may have been a gilded lily, and she did indeed feel guilty for lying in Rao’s name, but drastic situations call for drastic measures. She took a laboured breath, totally sure that she did not want to know the answer to what she was about to ask, but certain that it had to be better than answering it herself. “What about you?” She stammered, pressing her nails into her palm.

Lena chuckled, noticing the redirection of conversation, but seemingly willing to comply for her friend’s sake, which Kara was endlessly grateful for. 

“Well,” she started slowly. “I suppose there is this girl.” Kara’s heart fell, heavy and solid like the blood inside had dried up and stopped it from beating. She felt as though someone had tossed a brick into her stomach, and she could actually feel the weight of the rock thud against her stomach through her frame. She pulled herself together and raised her eyebrows, careful to school her expression into interest as opposed to hurt. She bit her lip, knowing that she was throwing away her chance with Lena.

“Do tell!” she said snatching up another donut to keep her hands occupied, using the snack as an outlet for her nerves. “She must be some sort of special to have you all,” she waved her hand in the direction of Lena’s face, which was glowing with happiness. “-smiley.” 

“Oh, she really is. Special, that is.” Lena’s beam grew wider and she looked up to the ceiling as if recalling a memory. “She’s so incredibly thoughtful and caring, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone quite like her and she’s certainly nothing like any girl I’ve ever been with before. She’s so kind and sweet that I swear she must drink a bottle of sunshine for breakfast each morning.” Lena rolled her eyes fondly, pausing only to chuckle before continuing on. “Oh, and not to mention she’s pretty. No, pretty doesn’t do this girl justice- she’s stunning.” Kara relaxed her body. She supposed that she could deal with Lena liking somebody else if they made her this happy, so she further swallowed her feelings and looked at her best friend attentively. “But-” Lena sighed, a self deprecating chuckle falling from her lips. 

“But?” Kara prompted kindly.

“She’s not interested.”

“Hey, I’m sure that’s not true. Maybe she’s just too afraid to say anything.” Kara knew she was projecting, but it was hardly as though Lena knew that, so she continued. “Maybe she thinks the same thing, that  _ you _ couldn’t possibly be into  _ her _ ?” Whoever this girl was, she was stupid if she didn’t want Lena, especially with the way Lena was rambling on about how pretty she is.

“I’m pretty certain Kara. But I’m okay with it, honestly. So long as she’s happy.” Lena smiled sadly. Kara puffed a little air out of her nose humorlessly. She knew the feeling.

————

_ Message from:  _ **favorite sister**

**favorite sister:** so did you tell her

**space puppy:**

**favorite sister:** you didn’t tell her did you

**space puppy:** i couldn’t alex.

**space puppy:** she’s into someone else.

**favorite sister:** oh kara

**favorite sister:** hold that thought i’m not doing this alone i'm calling for backup

**favorite sister** _added_ **lucy lame** _and_ **margarita pizza** _to the chat_

**lucy lame:** OOOH DO WE HAVE UPDATES

**lucy lame:** DID SHE TELL HER?

**margarita pizza:** not a chance ;)

**lucy lame:** wait why is lois not here

**favorite sister:** lois politely requested to be left out of any future ‘tea chats’ 

**favorite sister:** her words not mine

**favorite sister:** oh and read the room guys, we’re not celebrating

**margarita pizza:** oh shit

**margarita pizza:** kara what happened

**space puppy:** she doesn’t like me maggie

**space puppy:** she’s got this huge crush on this other girl

**lucy lame:** oh my god

**lucy lame:** kara i’m so sorry

**favorite sister:** kar are you really sure?

**space puppy:** she spent like an entire hour talking about this girl and how much she liked her al

**space puppy:** i’m sure

**margarita pizza:** fuck me i would have bet my life on little luthor being into you kara

**lucy lame:** i  _ did  _ bet a hundred dollars on little luthor being into you kara

**space puppy:** not helping you guys

**space puppy:** wait what who bet against you

**lucy lame:** winn

**space puppy:** traitor

**favorite sister:** did she say who this mystery girl was?

**space puppy:** no

**space puppy:** she didn’t say her name and i didn’t ask

**lucy lame:** so we have no idea who mystery girl™ is

**lucy lame:** only that lena is hopelessly and irrevocably in love with her

**space puppy:** lucyyy >:(

**lucy lame:** sorry kar

**margarita pizza:** this sucks

**space puppy:** tell me about it

**space puppy:** actually don’t

**space puppy:** i’m gonna go mope now

**space puppy** _ logged off _

————

True to her word, Kara switched her phone off and rummaged through the freezer for a fresh tub of ice-cream, intending to spend the rest of her evening doing some old fashioned moping. After her brunch with Lena, her day had only got progressively worse. She was shouted at by Cat Grant a record number of eighty-three times in one day, thirty-one of which were because she was ‘daydreaming’. As much as she wished to defend herself, she didn’t imagine that telling Cat that she was actually busy thinking about Lena Luthor would help her case in the slightest, and it was probably better to let her boss think she was daydreaming.

Kara slumped down onto the couch, pulling her favorite creamy blanket all the way up to her chin, burying herself in its warmth. Nuzzling her face into it, she realised that it had an unusual scent to it; sweet and comforting. “Lena.” She thought aloud, realising that her best friend’s perfume must have transferred onto the blanket while she was snuggled underneath it at game night. Kara breathed in the sweet scent and smiled, remembering how absolutely dwarfed Lena had looked under the thick blanket; small and sleepy in contrast to her usual confident aura. She pouted, wishing Lena were snuggled next to her sharing the tub of ice-cream, then mentally reprimanded herself. She was eating ice-cream to forget about one Lena Luthor, not to wallow in her feelings for her.

Kara switched on the television, flicking between channels, finally settling on some nature documentary about the Serengeti. She had tried a couple different Disney films, but found too many romantic themes and happy endings that seemingly mocked her from behind the screen. Unrequited love in animated films invariably ended with the protagonist winning the object of their affections, not that Kara wanted to  _ win _ Lena’s love, for love wasn’t something to be won, she thought. It was something to be earned, something that you couldn’t stop feeling if you tried, something that took over your entire being, consumed you until it was all you could think about, day or night, on any planet, in any universe. 

Kara wanted Lena to love her, she wanted it more than anything, and if all she ever had was loving Lena, with no romantic feelings in return, she didn't know how she would cope. On that thought, Kara skipped past the animated films, for she wasn’t sure she was able to watch someone else fall in love to the sound of a happy ending, which she certainly wasn’t going to get herself. 

Three nature documentaries and two tubs of ice-cream later, Kara found her back aching almost as much as her heart, as cliché as it sounded. She stood and wandered to the window, looking out onto a glowing city and a cloudless sky, the stars shining down on her, millions of miles away; so tiny and insignificant from such a distance. On a whim, Kara pushed open the window and took off into the sky, shooting far above the city, leaving her unrequited love and sadness on the ground. She floated aimlessly around the skies of National City until dawn, when she came to rest on the pointed centre of the National City Bridge, hoping to watch the sunrise over the water.

Kara loved this spot. It had a beautiful view of the city, particularly when the sun was rising, creating silhouette of the city skyline, painting the water in hues of orange and yellow, colouring the sky a pretty golden colour, and placing halos of light over the heads of any people who were up early enough to bask in its beauty. Looking out across the city, which was slowly changing from a warm yellow glow to the bright white of the morning, Kara began to listen. At first she heard simple sounds; the sweet melody of the local birds singing their songs, the charming chatter of the people of National City waking and hurrying to begin their days or the quiet hum of the cars rumbling past on the road beneath her, but if she listened more carefully, she could hear just a little bit more about individual people’s lives.

She listened in on a young boy comforting his crying little sister, offering her his serve of pancakes if she was brave and went to school today, an exchange which made Kara positively beam with warmth. She heard a man waking up to his dog licking his face and laughing gruffly, seemingly pleased by the extra affection, then a girl with a beautiful voice singing happily to an upbeat song and sighing with disappointment when the radio switched from the music broadcast to the morning greetings of a pair of cheesy radio show hosts. 

Kara delighted in listening to people’s lives, taking care not to intrude too much, just catching small moments and happy little details that reminded her of how complex the world was, and how insignificant she could be if she wished. She began to listen again to a woman in her apartment singing along to the radio, though she noticed that this time it was coming from elsewhere, a different voice to the first performance she had been audience to. This voice was quieter, smaller, less confident in its ability to follow a tune, but Kara thought it sweet nevertheless. It wasn’t until a few seconds later, when the voice grew just a little bit louder, that Kara realised why she was enjoying the dulcet tone so much.

“Lena.” Kara breathed, a smile growing on her face. And just for a moment, all her worries about unrequited love vanished, leaving Kara with nothing but warmth in her heart for her best friend. She toyed with the sleeves of her oversized cardigan and sighed in contentment. It was going to be okay. She was going to be okay. Whether she had Lena’s love or not, they would always be in each other's lives, and in that moment, Kara knew that she could learn to let that be enough.


	6. vi

————

#  **_vi: “i’ll have you know that luthors don’t get nervous.”_ **

————

Thursday evening saw the gang at a karaoke bar downtown, happily chatting over a table that was sticky with spilled drinks, occasionally pausing to whoop their appreciation for the strangers drunkenly singing on stage. Kara had invited Lena, but she was yet to arrive, so naturally, she had fast become the group’s topic of choice. 

“So,” Winn probed. “Did you tell Lena that you’re head over heels in love with her yet?” Alex, who was returning from fetching drinks at the bar, hence was standing behind Kara in Winn’s line of sight, began frantically swiping her hand in front of her neck, desperately signalling for him to cut it out. Lucy and Maggie grimaced and drew in sharp breaths, looking sympathetically at Kara. “What?” James asked, evidently confused. “You lot were all teasing her last week, what’s changed?”

Kara hadn’t told the boys of Lena’s romantic interests in the mystery girl™, already feeling as though she’d betrayed Lena’s trust by telling Alex, Maggie and Lucy. She also didn’t appreciate the pitiful looks the girls were sending her, so she had kept James and Winn out of the loop.

“Lena doesn’t like me Winn.” She said simply, already too exhausted of this conversation to elaborate.

“Kara, how many times do we have to tell you she’s-” Winn began. 

“No, really Winn.” Alex interjected. “Apparently she’s got her eyes elsewhere.” She smiled sadly at Kara. James frowned and placed his hand on Kara’s wrist.

“God Kara, I’m so sorry.” 

“Hey! No! Today is about having fun, getting drunk and singing terribly.” She counted the tasks off on her fingers. “We are not wasting Alex’s only night off this week by throwing a ‘Kara Danvers pity party’!” Kara exclaimed dramatically, surprising herself with how bright she sounded despite the pit in her stomach. “On that note, I vote that Alex should be up for karaoke first, all in favour say I!” ‘I’s’ resonated around the table, and Alex conceded defeat, taking a swig of her beer and heading toward the machine to choose her song.

Kara heard Lena’s arrival before she saw her, somehow catching an uneasy breathing pattern coming from the doorway over the loud music and drunken yelling. The breathing was accompanied by a heartbeat that had become all too familiar since she realised her feelings for her best friend. Lena paused at the door for a few seconds, before drawing in a breath and striding into the bar, exuding her usual confident aura. Kara grinned and waved frantically at her to let her know which booth the gang were in. The moment Lena reached their table, Kara flung her arms around her best friend. 

“Lena! I haven’t seen you in like, three days!” she complained into Lena’s hair. Lena chuckled lowly. “I missed you too Kara.” she whispered, knowing that Kara would hear her over all the noise. Not wanting to let go, Kara sunk into the hug for a few seconds longer before finally releasing her best friend. Feeling eyes on her back, she turned to look back at the group, most of whom hadn’t noticed Lena’s arrival, spare Lucy, who was staring, a confused expression painted on her face.

“You okay Luce?” Kara asked.

“Yeah! Yeah. It’s just- nothing, sorry. I must’ve zoned out.” She chuckled, with a knowing smile. Kara shrugged and turned back to Lena.

“Can I get you a drink?” 

“Oh, aren’t you a gentleman?” Lena teased, placing her hand on Kara’s shoulder with a smug look on her face. Kara looked down and smiled shyly, before turning to the bar to fetch them both drinks. 

In Kara’s absence, Lucy formulated a plan in her head, and quickly hissed it to Maggie. Maggie nodded at Lucy, before smiling at Lena in greeting and wandering off to meet her girlfriend in the queue for the karaoke machine. Lucy gave James a sharp look, jolting her head towards Kara. James got the message, grabbing Winn by the arm and leading him away from the table towards the bar, where the pair began an animated conversation with Kara. Satisfied with her efforts to end up alone with the young Luthor, Lucy turned to face Lena.

“So,” She began cheerily, her voice clearly poised for gossip. “Kara told us you’re smitten with a mystery girl, and we all know the Lane family loves a bit of gossip.” Lena raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Really? Lois doesn’t strike me as the type.” She replied, her voice low, with an undercurrent of mirth.

“Okay well maybe it's just me but that’s so not the point. Don’t change the topic Luthor. About this mystery girl; do tell.” Lena looked down at the table and fiddled with a paper coaster, tearing the corners a little, as if weighing up her options. Sighing and seemingly resigning herself to her fate, she looked back up at Lucy, with tears in her eyes.

“How does she not know, Lucy?” she whispered, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip.

“I knew it,” Lucy smiled. “Kara?” Lena nodded.

“Who else?” Lena whispered. She chuckled self deprecatingly, wiping her tears away with a woollen sleeve. 

“She’s pretty oblivious isn’t she.” Lucy said, laughing. “Maggie joked once that you could have kissed her square on the lips and she would be none the wiser.”

“I would be lying to you if I said I hadn’t considered it. Lucy, when she asked who the girl I had a crush on was, I literally described Kara _ to herself. _ And, she either had no idea, or-” she trailed off, playing with the coaster again.

“Or?” Lucy asked gently. Lena drew in a shaky breath.

“Or, she was just hoping I’d drop it, because she didn’t feel the same way.” Lucy didn’t get the chance to answer, as Kara returned to the table and slipped a scotch in front of Lena, occupying the seat next to her. 

“You guys were quick.” Lucy said shortly, glaring at James and Winn, who followed closely behind Kara. They both wore apologetic expressions. 

“Yeah the line was pretty small.” He said by means of explanation. ‘Sorry’, he mouthed silently to Lucy, knowing he’d cut down on her time to talk to Lena.

Kara gazed at Lena for a good ten minutes while she engaged in all manners of conversation with her friends, simply admiring the way her lips moved when she spoke, listening to the deep lull of her voice; the way it became less controlled and more childlike when she was passionate about the topic being discussed. When Lena’s conversation with Winn died down, she turned to Kara, catching her staring. She smiled.

“Hi.” She said softly. Kara grinned, a glint of excitement in her eye.

“Lena, I have an idea, but you have to promise me you’ll be open minded. Okay?” Lena frowned, but found herself unable to say no to the stellar grin beaming back at her.

“Okay.”

“We’re gonna get up there and we’re gonna sing. I’ll sing with you so you don’t get nervous, it’ll be so fun I  _ promise _ .” She begged, grabbing Lena’s hand.

“Kara, I don’t sing. I  _ can’t _ sing.” Lena replied. Kara lifted her chin, a quiet smile replacing her grin.

“That’s not true.” She said earnestly. “I’ve heard you sing.” Lena scrunched up her nose, trying to recall a time when she might have accidentally sung along to a tune in Kara’s presence, but she clearly drew a blank. “On Monday morning.” Kara clarified softly. “I was watching the sunrise from the National City Bridge, and I heard you singing. Your voice is very soft.” She clamped down on her bottom lip, suddenly worried that she’d crossed some kind of boundary in admitting that she was listening to Lena from such a distance.

“You could hear me from all the way at the bridge?” Lena asked, her eyes wide.

“I can always hear you.” Kara said quietly. She mentally smacked her head against the table; that sentence could not have sounded more creepy if she had tried. She looked up at Lena with pleading eyes, hoping that she didn’t hear her over the sounds of the bar, or that if she had, she wasn’t totally weirded out. Thankfully, when Kara’s eyes met Lena’s, she found them full of mirth. Lena smiled, and Kara mustered up some confidence.

“So? What do you say? Will you sing?” She asked, chewing a tiny corner of her lip.

“One song.” Lena conceded. “I mean it. Only one.”

“Yes!” Kara pumped her fist in the air, grabbing Lena’s arm and rushing over to the stage.

While they were waiting in the queue, Alex finally got her turn under the stage lights, belting the lyrics to some punk rock song from her teenage years, while Kara danced and cheered enthusiastically from the floor, beaming at her big sister. When Alex finished, Kara turned away from the stage and locked eyes with Lena. Noticing the anxiety in her friend’s demeanour, she placed a hand on Lena’s arm reassuringly. 

“Don’t be nervous, you’re gonna love it.” Lena smiled confidently in response, even if her eyes were a little dubious.

“I’ll have you know that Luthors don’t get nervous, Miss Danvers.” She smirked, her eyebrow doing  _ The Thing™ _ . Oh how Kara had missed the thing. 

“Is that so? Maybe I’ll leave you to sing up there on your own if you’re so confident!” Kara said snarkily. She noticed Lena’s eyes widen in a brief moment of panic before she schooled her face back to its usual surefooted expression. She took a deep breath, cupping Kara’s cheek with one hand.

“Just you watch me Kara Danvers.” Lena said slowly, before releasing Kara’s face, winking and sauntering off to the karaoke machine alone, leavng Kara bright pink and flustered in her wake, her cheek burning from the contact.

“Next up we have,” the announcer checked the list. “Lena!” Lena stepped up onto the stage, all of the confidence she’d exuded when she suggested that she would sing, long vanished from her face. She took the microphone with a grateful nod and held it to her mouth, a nervous smile playing on her lips.

“Uhm- hi. I’m going to be singing ‘Everytime’. It’s by Britney Spears but uh, I actually like it because it was performed by my favorite ‘Glee’ character, who bears a striking resemblance to my best friend, Kara, actually.” She chuckled nervously and smiled at Kara, who was beaming proudly up at her, sticking her thumbs up encouragingly.

“Little Luthor watches ‘Glee’?” Maggie whispered incredulously. Lucy shrugged, wide eyed and amused.

“Apparently.” Kara swatted her hand around in front of their faces, shushing the group as the music started up.

“I find it more interesting that her favorite character is the one who looks identical to Kara, but sure.” Winn whispered. 

“I’ll drink to that.” Alex mumbled. 

“She’ll drink to anything.” James stage whispered comically to Lucy. Kara waved her hand in their faces once more, still not taking her eyes off of Lena, who was somehow glowing ethereally under the cheap white stage lighting. 

Lena took a shaky breath and began to sing. Her voice was quiet and soft, and Kara thought it was absolutely beautiful. While she wasn’t a technically talented singer like Winn and Kara were, her voice was pretty and melodic, as though she were singing an enchantment. She cast her eyes down towards the floor for most of the song, but her voice carried through the room nonetheless. The group sat in stunned silence, having been told since the day that they met Lena Luthor that she could not sing, and only just now learning that she had been concealing the voice of an angel. The music wound down, and Lena looked up at the group, her eyes focussed on Kara, and Kara only, a pink tinge running across her cheeks and reaching the tip of her nose. 

Following an impressive applause, she ducked her head in thanks and hopped off the stage shyly.

“You were incredible!” Kara yelled. The second she arrived back at the booth, she was enveloped in Kara’s arms. “You were incredible.” she repeated, whispering into Lena’s neck.

“Little Luthor!” Maggie interrupted. “You never told us you could sing! Actually, you assured us ad nauseum that you definitely could _ not _ sing.” All of a sudden Lena’s cocky confidence was back.

“I’ve got a lot of talents  _ you’ll _ never live to see Sawyer.” She quipped tongue in cheek, shooting Kara a wink and sauntering off to the bar to drown her remaining embarrassment from singing in public.

James gaped at the exchange. 

“If that's how she acts around her  _ ‘best friend’ _ Kara, I’d love to see how she is with this  _ mystery girl _ she's supposedly besotted with.”

“Oh I bet you would James.” Alex snorted, waggling her eyebrows at him. 

Lucy grinned smugly, opening her mouth to reveal that she indeed knew the identity of Mystery Girl™, then thought better of it and clamped her mouth shut. It wasn’t her secret to tell, or her business to meddle in. She rolled her eyes at her considerate, but decidedly boring choice and put her head in her hands.

“Lois would be  _ so _ proud.” she groaned into her palms.

As the night wound down, Kara found Lena lounging lazily on her shoulder, her hand resting on Kara’s thigh. Kara absently combed her fingers through raven hair, finding the rhythm soothing. She was comfortable and content, and despite everyone else’s drunken states, she was enjoying the time with her friends. This felt like home; with Lena practically in her lap, Maggie and Alex loudly flirting across the table in pathetically hidden stage whispers, James drunkenly attempting to explain some sports team to an oblivious Winn, and Lucy gossiping to Kara about the latest drama at work, making the mundane inner workings of the DEO Desert Facility seem thrilling and scandalous. 

Lena cleared her throat and raised her hand to silence the table. By some miracle, the group quieted the moment she did so, turning their attention to what should have been a very drunk Lena Luthor. But despite the countless number of high alcohol content drinks she had thrown back, her voice was crystal clear, her syllables not slurred in the slightest. Not that the others, spare Kara, would have noticed for their altered states themselves. 

“L-Corp is hosting a function this Sunday evening. A charity ball. Of course, I have tickets by the dozen, and frankly, considering you lot are my only friends in National City, it seems pertinent that I might extend an invitation to you all.” Lena announced eloquently.

“Speak English, Luthor. I have had far too many whiskeys to translate your posh speak.” Maggie called, in what Kara assumed was supposed to be a mock Irish accent, but frankly sounded more like a drunk Scot. Alex put a finger in the air proudly. 

“I’ve got this.” she said, nodding at Lena in a ridiculously serious manner. Turning to Maggie, she counted the key points off on her fingers. “Big party. Probably free food. Definitely free booze. Fancy posh people. Something about charity. We’re invited. Lena’s lonely.” 

“That about covers it, I guess.” Kara laughed, not noticing Lena’s smile fade just a little bit. “With that said, I think it's about time I got you lot home. You’re drunk. All of you. I’ll call for taxis.” 

Ten minutes later, after Kara had packed Maggie and Alex into a cab, promising she would call in the morning, then James into the next, along with Winn and Lucy, who were going to crash at James’ place, she found herself alone with Lena, waiting for her ride. Lena was resting her head against Kara’s shoulder, their elbows linked under the premise of holding the drunk girl upright, but Kara knew that she was doing it more so for contact with Lena. Lena lifted her head and smiled goofily up at Kara, staring at her happily with her mouth slightly open as though she were about to say something.

“Yes, Lena?” Kara prompted softly. Lena just quietly hummed, not shifting her gaze. “I see the alcohol content in your blood has finally caught up with Miss  _ ‘I could drink you all under the table without so much as one slurred word’ _ , huh?” She laughed, recalling a feisty comment Lena had made earlier that night; one of the reasons everyone ended up so completely hammered.

Lena broke the silence after a few seconds, finally turning her gaze to the ground, scuffing her shoe against the pavement. 

“You know I really just want  _ you _ there.” she mumbled.

“Want me where, Lena?” Kara asked softly.

“-the ball. I invited the others cause, cause they’re your friends and, and you l-love them. ‘nd it would make you-” Lena broke her sentence with a hiccup. “happy.” Kara took Lena’s hand in hers and squeezed it tight.

“Of course I’ll be at the ball Lena. And hey-” Kara lifted Lena’s chin and was met with a sad pout. “You make me happy too you know.” Lena smiled apprehensively.

“Really?” 

“ _ Really _ .” Kara nodded, watching Lena’s eyes light up, as though she was genuinely surprised at Kara’s words. Kara truly didn’t understand how Lena could possibly have clung onto the idea that she didn’t make her happy, when all Kara ever did in the stupidly pretty girl’s presence was smile and bumble and walk into things clumsily. Whoever ended up with this dork was the luckiest girl on Earth, Kara thought sadly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


	7. vii

#  **_————_ **

#  **_vii: “are you happy? “yeah. yeah, i am.”_ **

#  **_————_ **

  
  


**paragon of pining:** ALEX

**paragon of pining:** ALEX

**paragon of pining:** EMERGENCY

**favorite sister:** kara tell me where you are and who you’re with.

**paragon of pining:** wAIT NONONO

**paragon of pining:** NOT THAT KIND OF EMERGENCY

**favorite sister:** kara. are you in danger, yes or no.

**paragon of pining:** NO I NEED HELP PICKING A DRESS

**favorite sister:** kARA JESUS CHRIST WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE WORD EMERGENCY

**paragon of pining:** yeah yeah i know

**paragon of pining:** anything less than a level five threat doesn’t count >:(

**paragon of pining:** but alex this is important! 

**paragon of pining:** lena’s ball is tonight and i have nOTHING TO WEAR

**favorite sister:** fuck me, kara you’re so gay

**favorite sister:** you know i also have to pick something to wear to said ball?

**favorite sister:** i don’t have time for this

**paragon of pining:** alex!

**favorite sister:** i can actually  _ feel  _ you pouting

**favorite sister:** i’ll be there in ten don’t like jump out a window or anything

**paragon of pining:** :) love u

**favorite sister:** yeah yeah you too

**favorite sister** _logged off_

————

Alex rifled through Kara’s closet, picking things out and chucking them over her shoulder, leaving Kara, who was laying with her head hanging off the end of the bed, buried under a mountain of clothes.

“Ouch! Alex can you quit throwing things at me please?” Kara yelped as a sequin clad dress smacked her in the face. Alex chuckled, pulling out a purple shirt to inspect it. 

“You and I both know that didn’t hurt.” 

“My face, no, but my feelings, absolutely.” Kara grumbled.

Alex sat cross legged on the edge of the bed, scouring the pile of dresses that she’d thrown out of the closet for prospective options. 

“How about this one?” She asked, holding up a white maxi sundress with sunflowers printed on it. 

“Alex, do you even know how fancy this event is?” Kara asked incredulously. “It’s called a  _ ball _ , for Rao’s sake, I can’t show up wearing a glorified sundress!” Alex threw her hands up in surrender and smirked.

“Woah, woah okay, more formal. Got it.”

“Oooh, I like this one!” Kara squealed, pulling out a blush pink number that would fall just below her knees. She wriggled off the bed and supersped into the dress, grinning at Alex, who squeezed her eyes shut and winced.

“Kara can you not do that unannounced?” She whined. “It makes me nauseous.”

“Sorry!” Kara sang, though she was clearly not sorry. “What do you think?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. I think mom has something ridiculously similar and if you’re trying to impress Lena, that is  _ so _ not the look we’re going for.”

“Lena? I’m- pfft, I’m not- she, no?” 

“You wanna give that sentence another go?”

“She likes someone else Alex.” Kara sighed, her voice threaded with defeat.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t change  _ your _ feelings for  _ her _ , Kar.” Alex said softly. When Kara stayed silent, Alex threw another dress at her. “Quickchange time.” 

It took another four rounds of back and forth between an all manner of dress shirts and gowns, as well as one mental breakdown on Kara’s part, before Alex spotted it.

“This one.” She gasped, pulling a floor length black gown from the bottom of the pile. The black material was woven with sequins that twinkled delicately in the light streaming through Kara’s window. A deep V neckline was held up by thin spaghetti straps, and a long slit ran up the right leg.

“But Alex, black is so dramatic.” Kara sighed dramatically, rather ironic, Alex thought.

“No buts, Kara. This is it. You wanna look hot?  _ This _ is your ticket.” She tossed it at Kara, who wandered off to the bathroom, gown in hand. “Oh so  _ now  _ you don’t wanna use your superspeed?” Alex groaned under her breath.

Kara stepped out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later.

“Wow” Alex chuckled. “I know I’m your sister and am therefore obliged to say this but you look incredible Kar.” Kara smiled. 

“I like it.” She said with a happy nod, before muttering something about Lena liking the dress under her breath. Alex either didn’t hear, or had the decency to pretend she didn’t, allowing Kara her moment of pining.

Kara went to the wardrobe to dig through her shoes, which Alex took as an opportunity to grab snacks. While her sister was gone, Kara examined her reflection in the mirror, running her hands down her sides, out into the material that strayed from her hip and fell gently to the floor.

“Wow.” She whispered, before returning to her quest to find matching shoes. “Heels or flats?” Kara called out to her sister, who was still in the kitchen. Alex appeared in the doorframe, sticking a spoon into a punnet of ice-cream. 

“Hold them up? Mmmm, heels.” Alex said decisively, pointing a spoonful of rocky road at the black heels in Kara’s left hand.

An hour later, not only had the pair succeeded in selecting a matching set of silver earrings and a chain drop necklace for Kara, spun her hair into loose curls and fastened it back with a delicate hair pin, but they had also fashioned an outfit for Alex in the process.

“Alex! Ohmygosh you  _ absolutely _ have to wear this.” Kara had squealed, pulling a blazer and matching pants out of her closet. 

“Kara that's not gonna fit-”

“Just try it.” Kara pouted. Alex rolled her eyes and snatched the blazer, while her sister fished through her drawer to find a top. 

“Aha! Perfect.” Kara held up a black lace bodysuit, grinning from ear to ear. Alex frowned at her sister apprehensively, crossing her arms in stubborn defiance. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes.

“Not a chance. I mean, Kara, why do you even have that?”

“Put it on or I’ll superspeed you into it.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You and I both know I would.” Kara smirked, thrusting the bodice into her sister’s hands. Alex looked down and sighed, defeated. 

When Alex turned around again, Kara let out a squeal that Alex was pretty sure might have busted the windows in the living room. She walked over to Kara’s mirror, stopping in her tracks and gaping when she caught sight of what she was wearing. Determined not to prove her sister right, she attempted to put on an apprehensive grimace.

“I can see you smiling Alex.” Kara nudged her sister playfully. “Hate to say I told you so!”

Alex pushed her back, smiling at her own reflection in the mirror and smoothing down her blazer. 

“No you don’t.”

“You look amazing.” Alex smiled.

“Shutup.”

———— 

The girls met Maggie and Lucy outside the venue twenty minutes later, allowing Kara time to panic at the entrance. She stared into the vast room, waiters walking purposefully back and forth offering a range of delicate petit fours to guests dressed in ball gowns and tuxedos, who were sipping at glasses of champagne that Kara could only dream of affording. An enchanting laugh rang out across the room as Kara stepped inside, and it took her no longer than a few seconds to find its owner. Standing in the centre of the room, chuckling at something a man dressed in a poorly tailored tuxedo had said, was Lena Luthor, dressed in the most gorgeous emerald slip dress Kara had ever laid eyes on. The dress was tight around the torso, hugging her curves perfectly, until it billowed out at the hips in folds of deep green, falling into a small pool at her feet. A slit travelled three quarters of the way up Lena’s leg, a patch of skin Kara couldn’t help but trace with her eyes, before immediately feeling guilty and feeling her face flushing hot for doing so.

“Holy Rao.” she breathed. Lucy sidled up to her in a strappy red number and matching heels.

“Yeah.” Lucy huffed, also looking at the enigma that was Lena Luthor. “Holy Rao indeed.” 

Lena chose that moment to spin around, clearly catching sight of her friends near the entrance, her hair fanning out behind her as she turned.

“That’s my cue to scram, Kar. Get your girl.” Lucy whispered, though Kara paid her no mind, didn’t even notice her leave, for her attention was focussed on Lena.

“Lena.” Kara breathed. “You look, wow- you look gorgeous. Not that you don’t always look- gorgeous it’s just that, I, that dress is, you’re-” Lena looked amused, her eyes twinkling. She laid her hand on Kara’s arm reassuringly.

“Thank you Kara. And I dare say you look stunning in that dress. Black suits you well, darling.” Kara beamed, unable to hide the blush that rose to her cheeks. Lena continued on, taking the lead on the small talk, for Kara was struggling with her focus when Lena looked like, well,  _ that _ , in that dress. 

“The company around here has been nothing short of abysmal. I have spent the last twenty minutes networking with old white men who haven’t the slightest interest in my company, but seem to have a whole lot of interest in  _ me _ .” She shuddered. “One of them salaciously brought up a supposed ‘rumour’,” She mocked air quotes. “that I was gay, hoping to draw a laugh out of me. I was honestly more confused than offended.” Kara felt herself relax a little and managed to laugh.

“Confused?” She asked.

“Well I mean come on, Kara. Look at me. There are seriously people doubting it?” Kara giggled once more, but fastened her gaze on the floor beneath them, trying to forget that she too, had been a confused party less than a week ago.

The night rolled on around them, but Lena never once left Kara’s side, shunning several men who wanted to “talk business” while staring at Lena’s chest, in favour of hovering by the bar together. Kara looked over to the dancefloor and saw Maggie and Alex swaying to the music together. Alex never did have mch rhythm, but neither she nor Maggie seemed to care, hopelessly floating around, content in each other’s arms. Lena noticed Kara staring.

“They look happy.” She smiled, nodding at the two women.

“They are.” Kara beamed in reply. A simple answer to a simple statement. Of course they were happy. She could see it in the way Alex’s eyes were sparkling, the way Maggie’s dimples were on constant display, and in the way that neither of them cared what fools they might be making of themselves as they trod on one another's feet. “They deserve it.”

“And you?” Lena asked softly. Kara looked at her questioningly. “Are you happy?” Lena clarified. Kara looked down at her feet, then back up at Lena, locking eyes with stunning green.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am happy.” She whispered. And in that moment, staring into Lena’s eyes, she was. They stood in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, watching the bustle on the ballroom floor. The orchestra wound down, signalling the end of the song, and a quiet applause rang out across the hall. Lena placed her champagne glass shakily on the tray of a passing waiter, and looked up at Kara expectantly, hope in her eyes that Kara couldn’t figure out the cause for.

“Miss Danvers,” Lena smiled and held out her hand. “May I have this dance?”

Kara gaped and pointed pathetically at herself.

“You, want to dance with- with me?” Lena chuckled lightly.

“Yes Kara, that was the gist of it.”

“But you- what about that girl, the one you spent hours telling me about?” Kara tucked her chin into her chest, scuffing the toe of her shoe on the floor. “The one you’re in love with.” Lena laughed again, more softly this time, lifting Kara’s chin with her finger.

“Kara, darling. You  _ are _ that girl.  _ You _ are the girl that drinks sunshine for breakfast each morning.  _ You _ are the girl that makes me feel loved, like I’m deserving of love, like I’m worth the effort. You’re the girl who cares about me more than anyone ever has, whose belief and trust in me has never once faltered.” Lena reached out to caress Kara’s cheek. “Kara Danvers,  _ you _ are the girl I’m in love with. The girl I have  _ always _ been in love with.” Kara was utterly speechless. Lena drew in a breath.

“So, Kara Danvers. May I have this dance?” She repeated gently, offering her hand once more.

“Always.” Kara beamed, interlocking their fingers and allowing herself to be led to the dance floor.

Kara didn’t know how long they danced for, her face buried into Lena’s soft hair, swaying gently to the orchestra’s melodies. With Lena’s hands wrapped around her neck, Kara didn’t notice each song bleed into the next, for the world around her had completely disappeared, leaving only herself and the girl in her arms, twirling in the evening glow. Kara emerged from her trance only when Lena’s hands slipped away from her neck, and down her arms, curling around Kara’s hands instead. Lena looked up at her, a soft look in her eyes, one of adoration and awe, saying all she needed to without a single syllable slipping past her lips. She gently tugged at Kara’s arm and weaved them through the dancing couples, outside into the courtyard, where the sun had long since set over the horizon, leaving the hazy glow of the moon in its place.

Lena gathered the trail of her dress and took it all in a bunch at her knees, and flicked her heels off before swiftly swinging her legs up and over the balustrade, her feet sinking into soft grass on the other side. She held out her hand for Kara to follow.

“Trust me?”

“Always.” Kara smiled and quickly followed suit, dropping her heels next to Lena’s discarded Louboutins and grabbing her hand. And just like that, in a moment of pure child-like joy that Kara had never once seen in her best friend before (was best friend still the right word?), Lena took off, running through the garden and dragging Kara in tow, giggling the entire way until they reached a pink cherry blossom tree at the back of the lot, lit by tiny fairy-lights in a typical event-manner. She fell at the base of the tree, pulling the both of them to the damp grass below, laughing as they tumbled to the ground. They lay on their backs staring up at the stars, fingers interlocked, fully content, until Kara turned to see Lena gazing unapologetically at her, a gentle smile on her lips. Lena chewed on her bottom lip.

“Kiss me, Kara Danvers.” Kara smiled and sat up, pulling Lena up with her. The kiss was everything a first kiss should be; gentle and soft, a simple press of lips, a promise of more to come, an expression of affection over attraction. Kara rested her forehead against Lena’s and smiled, her hands wrapped around her waist, Lena’s around her neck. 

“I love you Lena.” She breathed into the little air that was between them.

“I love you too Kara. I’ve always loved you.”


	8. viii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is literally just a text chain!! the proper "story" (if you could call it that) ended last chapter <3 i kinda think its worth a read though i enjoyed writing the nicknames haha

————

#  **_viii: “you guys need to get some hobbies that aren’t betting on my love life.”_ **

————

**space puppy:** YOU GUYS SHE KISSED ME

**space puppy:** I KISSED HER?

**space puppy:** DOESN’T MATTER

**space puppy:** SHE LOVES ME

**space puppy:** LIKE SHE ACTUALLY SAID THOSE WORDS

**lucy lame:** OHMYGOD KARA!

**margarita pizza:** yeah little danvers!

**big danvers:** congrats kar!

**big danvers:** whatever happened to “she doesn’t love me! she loves this other girl!”?

**space puppy:** wild story actually

**space puppy:** turns out that girl was me

**margarita pizza:** knew it

**margarita pizza:** babe u owe me a twenty

**big danvers:** >:(

**lucy lame:** yeah well i _actually_ knew it because lena told me at karaoke so

**lucy lame:** i win

**space puppy:** yOU KNEW?

**margarita pizza:** plot twist!

**space puppy:** anyway you guys need to get some hobbies that aren’t betting on my love life

**big danvers:** sorry kara but this shit is a blast

**margarita pizza:** yeah i've made a small fortune

**lucy lame:** oHMYGOD YOU GUYS

**lucy lame:** can we add lena to the chat now?

**big danvers:** yES

**margarita pizza:** oh this will be fun

**space puppy:** wait will she be able to see all the messages from before

**space puppy:** GUYS?

**lucy lame** _added_ **rich business bitch** _to the group chat_

**lucy lame:** give a warm welcome to national city’s number one marley rose stan: lena luthor!

**big danvers:** hey lena!

**margarita pizza:** welcome to hell

**rich business bitch:** it's an honor to be included ;)

**rich business bitch:** kara darling why were you panicking about me being able to read your messages

**lucy lame:** ohmygosh so you can see them?

**rich business bitch:** yes?

**space puppy:** oh rao

**big danvers:** if you scroll up far enough you can see kara crying because she thought you loved someone else

**space puppy:** ALEX

**rich business bitch:** oh my gosh kara

**margarita pizza:** hilarious right?

**rich business bitch:** i actually think it's sweet <3

**space puppy:** hA take that meanies

**lucy lame:** this is nothing compared to what she was saying in the other group chat

**rich business bitch:** i’m intrigued,,, go on

**big danvers:** where should we start?

**space puppy:** DON’T

**space puppy:** I WILL CRY

**margarita pizza:** i’ll take that risk

**margarita pizza:** how about we start with “you guys lena is straight”

**space puppy:** MARGARITA SAWYER

**rich business bitch:** she did not

**lucy lame:** she did

**rich business bitch:** oh kara, darling 

**space puppy:** >:(

**space puppy:** i hate all of you

**space puppy:** except for lena

**big danvers:** hey that's not fair

**big danvers:** i’m literally your sister why does lena get a free pass

**space puppy:** because she’s actually nice to me

**space puppy:** and i love her

**rich business bitch:** **❤️**

**lucy lame:** gross get a room

————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you made it this far i commend you!!! 
> 
> let me know what you thought maybe?? :)
> 
> ily. <3

**Author's Note:**

> do you have any thoughts? let me know below maybe perhaps?


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